ODOT crews get ready for winter with new technology

Friday

Road salt is getting cheaper as ODOT opens a new pick-up location for its drivers in Stark and surrounding counties. Want to see them at work? Try accessing the Internet.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see what the streets are like this winter before you leave your house?

Anyone with Internet access will be able to see the conditions along some major roadways at www.buckeyetraffic.org. Users can access web cameras and message boards that are already up and running, said Justin Chesnic, ODOT’s District 4 spokesman. The district covers all state routes, U.S. routes and the interstates in Stark, Summit, Portage, Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties.

ODOT’s Intelligent Transportation System or ITS allows viewers to see any one of 18 message boards and more than 60 cameras aimed at Interstates 77 and 76, U.S. Routes 62, 30 and 224 and state Route 8 in the Canton and Akron areas.

And viewers can see that Stark County’s “snow and ice trucks” have already hit the highways for the season.

Mark Griffiths, ODOT’s transportation administrator for Stark County, said two tankers went out at 10 p.m. Thursday night to start pre-treating bridges with brine in advance of a frost. The National Weather Service said the temperature fell to an overnight low of 30 degrees with freezing fog recorded at the Akron-Canton Airport at 4:51 a.m. Friday.

The district’s 22 snow and ice trucks gathered a few hours later at the Stark County Main Garage, 4505 Atlantic Blvd. NE Friday morning for a practice run to ensure every piece of equipment is ready for Ohio’s winter weather.

“Basically, we just want to be able to hit the ground running,” Chesnic said.

Fourteen of the trucks will operate out of the main garage where the state houses a dome with 5,800 tons of salt. The other six will operate out of the Massillon location at state Route 21 and Walnut Road.

“Our goal for a normal snow event is to run 20 trucks countywide,” Griffiths said, defining normal snow event as one involving 1 to 3 inches of the white stuff.

Of all of Ohio’s 12 ODOT districts, this district holds the largest amount of lane miles and it receives the second highest average amount of snowfall per winter season, according to the state agency. The area also uses “the highest amount of anti-icing and snow removing material” in the state.

The good news there is that more salt is available this year and it’s cheaper.

Previously, the district could only purchase salt from one of two providers — Morton and Cargill, both of which operate salt mines under Lake Erie. Now the state can choose from these two and up to five others, Chesnic said.

It’s not the first time the district has brought in salt from outside Ohio.

Chesnic said that in 2008 or 2009, salt had been shipped upon barges from South America.

The competition has resulted in an $8 to $10 per ton drop in price, he said.

This year, ODOT drivers can pick up salt from any of five locations scattered throughout the county, including a new location — Wilmot in southwestern Stark. The establishment of salt storage there also enables drivers from District 3 in Wayne and Holmes counties and District 11, which is Tuscarawas County, to access the salt, Chesnic said.

ELECTRONIC INFO

While imploring drivers to use caution around the plows, Chesnic also explained the availability of road condition information to the technologically savvy.

Anyone with Internet access can view road conditions in Stark County via the agency’s website.

“Just click on a camera icon and see a live picture of the roads and where you’re going, to see what the road looks like,” he said, adding that, “We’ve just created a Facebook page.” Chesnic said the state department is also working on an application to make the information more available to mobile electronics users.

Road conditions, lane restrictions and construction-related road closures also are listed on the district website.

“It’s not final yet,” Chesnic said, adding that, when the system is fully operational, a red-yellow-green light system will demonstrate traffic flow in specific locations. “I think 12 of the 18 message boards and half of the cameras are already up.”

Chesnic said the drivers also have a newer technology available to them.

Infrared equipment on the mirrors not only shows drivers the temperature of the air, it also provides the temperature of the road. That way, drivers will know when the salt they’re spreading is most effective.

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